SOMETHING NEW FOR ME TO TRY

I have just bought myself a new book 'The Art of Beaded Beads' and I can't wait to have a go at some of the projects. I have been looking at the seed beads you can buy and the choice is amazing. There are some gorgeous colours available. I also need to get some wooden base beads, beading needles, beading thread and apparently I need to get wax or conditioner for the thread.

TWO AWARDS!

It was such a fabulous surprise to receive not one but 2 awards from Kay's K9s. I adore her handcrafted miniature felted dogs, they are amazing. The first award is the 'Arte y Pico' award.

The “Arte y Pico” award was created and to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creative energy and their talents, be it writing or artwork in all media’s. When you receive this award it is considered a “special honor”.
The rules are as follows:

1) The winner of the award must choose 5 bloggers that they consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, posts, and contribution to the blogging community, no matter the language.

2) Each award given has to have the name of the author and a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award winner and the giver of the award must show the link of the 'Arte y Pico' blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Post these rules.

This is the second award I received and this too has to be passed onto 5 other bloggers.

These are the blogs I have chosen to pass these awards to:

Artistic Flair

Time2cre8

Daisy the Curly Cat

Seaglass Things

Out of the Pink Sky

FIRST BLOGOVERSARY TODAY!

I cannot believe that I have been blogging for a year and also I have had my shop on Etsy for a year. It was through Etsy that I discovered blogging. I read about it in the forums where it was suggested that blogging was a great way of advertising your shop. I know I have had one sale through my blog. But it is not just for advertising, I love blogging.

Etsy has also given me another interest, photography. I took so much time trying to get my photographs right for my shop and I think they are pretty much ok now. I recently got a new camera, a Panasonic DMC-TZ3. I chose this one because of the zoom. It has also got a macro setting which my old one didn't have and this is great for taking photos for Etsy, but also I have taken some lovely pictures of flowers and wildlife. I am never without my camera, I have got some great shots when I am out walking with Jasper. This was taken on one of our weekends away at the coast. Jasper loves the beach.




I started on Etsy selling jewellery. The only problem with this is that there are zillions of jewellery sellers on Etsy. I rekindled my love for knitting and then crochet so I now include these items in my shop. I love crafting and Etsy is a great way to finance my crafting habit.

Then earlier this year I discovered Entrecard. I can't believe that some people manage to make 300 drops in one day. I usually manage just over 100, I get sidetracked when I am dropping, reading the latest posts and commenting.

I am going to make an effort to post more on my blog over the next year. It is going to be a strange year for us, as long as our visa application goes through ok, we will hopefully be moving to Australia. Before we move though we have to sell our house and then we will have all the goodbyes to our family and friends. I am not looking forward to that bit.

NEW DESIGN - THE MUMPH

I started this about a month ago, hence the name Mumph (month) get it? Anyway I think he has turned out kind of cute and he will be on sale later today in my Etsy shop. I am planning on designing some different ones, I think the next one may be a baby Mumph and I will also like to make one into a keyring buddy.

My keyring buddies have been very successful, in particular Tina Turtle. I listed her yesterday evening and within an hour or so she had sold. She will be on her way to America tomorrow morning.

THANK YOU

I would like to say thank you to a fellow Etsy Hookers Street Team Member, FairyDC2008, for featuring my Sunshine Sally Octopus in her lovely Treasury on Etsy. Treasuries are where Etsy members get to show off some of the items that are for sale. It is a great feeling when you are looking through the list of treasuries and you see a gold star that indicates that one of your items has been chosen to be featured. So if you get time go take a look at her lovely shop where you will find some really pretty crochet and jewellery items.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY

It is my daughter's birthday today, she is 8 years old. Amy is my youngest daughter. We are having a birthday tea later when she gets home. We got her a Wii for her birthday and she has already been bowling before she went off this morning. It is a beautiful day here, it's a shame she had to go to school. I think everyone should be able to have a day off on their birthday. This picture was taken on last year's birthday. She loves watching Dr Who and a Dalek was at the top of her birthday wish list.

IT'S ALL HAPPENING TODAY

Today is our tenth wedding anniversary and today our Australian visa application has been submitted to DIAC (Department of Immigration and Citizenship). I cannot believe we have actually gone and done it. I know there will be ups and downs along the way but at least the paperwork is done and it has gone. The next thing we will have to go through are the medicals. Anyway till then we are going to celebrate tonight with a bottle of wine.